Prayer plants are a type of Marantaceae plant that have fascinating colorful leaves. Their leaves are their namesake due to the upward motion the leaves make at night, which looks like hands raised in prayer.
Prayer plants are adored by many because they don’t need a lot of sunshine to thrive. All you have to do is learn how to care for them as well as how to propagate them, and you’re all set.
Today, we’ll go over three different ways to propagate prayer plants, in addition to some tips that may seem simple, but can improve your garden drastically.
When to Propagate Prayer Plant?
Prayer plants are plants that can grow out of direct sunlight. You can effortlessly grow these plants inside your home with minimum care.
All you have to do is to put them in a bright spot in your home, but not on a windowsill or in direct sunlight. Prayer plants prosper in indirect light. When placing your plant, keep these conditions in mind.
In addition, a prayer plant requires watering every two weeks or so. However, don’t overwater it and observe the soil. Water your plant only when the soil is at least half dry.
While watering your prayer plant, you need to keep in mind that a prayer plant is sensitive to chemicals of all kinds. For this reason, tap water may not be the best option.
It’s preferred to water your plant with rainwater or filtered water. However, this all depends on the purity of water in your area. If the water in your area has fewer chemicals already, you’re good to go.
With the proper care, prayer plants usually grow to be about ten to twelve inches tall and live for about five years.
How to Make a Prayer Plant Fuller?
Even with great care, prayer plants can sometimes look leggy and sparse in their planting pot.
How do you make them more lush and full?
Your answer is propagating!
Propagation is growing a new plant from the cuttings of the original plant. The little cuttings grow roots and leaves. Then you can easily repot them with your original prayer plant to make it look fuller and lusher.
The best time to propagate your prayer plant is in its growing season. The growing season of most plants starts in early spring and ends in fall.
How to Propagate Prayer Plants
Now that you know when to propagate a prayer plant, it’s time to learn different propagation methods.
The most important thing to know before propagation is where to cut the plant to get a cutting fit for propagation.
Where to Cut a Prayer Plant for Propagation?
The first step to propagating a prayer plant is to get to know your plant’s anatomy.
The stem of this plant, like all plants, has nodes. Nodes are the little bumps in the main stem of your plant. The node eventually grows into a little secondary stem that holds the leaves, known as a petiole.
However, the nodes of prayer plants are a little different from most plants. Instead of a node with a single petiole, prayer plants’ nodes have multiple petioles.
You can easily find the node as it’s wider than the main stem. Follow the stem down with your fingers till you reach the narrower part under the petioles.
After that, you need to cut an inch or so below the node of your plant.
How to Propagate Your Prayer Plant in Water
Propagating plants in water is the easiest way to propagate a prayer plant. Here are simple steps to effectively propagate prayer plants in water.
Step 1: Cut Below the Nodes and Trim Lower Leaves
When cutting the plant below the nodes, use clean scissors or small garden shears to make a clean cut.
After that, you need to give your plant a once over and trim any leaves that can get below water during the propagation step. You’ll need a long stem to put under water and leaves at the top to stay above water.
In addition, make sure that there aren’t many leaves in general, especially not little ones. We want the plant to focus on growing roots instead of growing leaves.
Once you cut the stem below the node and trim the leaves, it’s time to start the propagation process.
Step 2: Submerge the Prayer Plant Stem in Water
Now that you have your cuttings, you need to put the nodes and the stem in water so it’ll start the growing process. Nodes are the part that can grow roots, so we want the nodes completely submerged in clean water.
As mentioned before, prayer plants don’t do well with chemical-filled tap water, so keep that in mind while propagating your plant. You’ll get the best results using rainwater, distilled, or filtered water.
With this in mind, fill a glass container with water.
The shape of your glass container shouldn’t matter, but when propagating a prayer plant, it’s preferable to use a wide container at the bottom with a narrow neck and opening. This way, we’re keeping the leaves safe and away from the water below.
Then submerge the stem and its nodes in water and let the plant work its magic.
Step 3: Place Your Prayer Plant in Indirect Sunlight
As we mentioned before, prayer plants love bright indirect light. For this reason, the best place for propagation is near a window but out of direct sunlight.
Step 4: Observe Your Prayer Plant
Once your prayer plant is in water and has enough sunlight, it’ll do all the heavy lifting. However, there are still some ways to help it along in its propagation journey.
- If your house isn’t humid enough for a prayer plant, you can stimulate the appropriate humidity by using a clear bag to cover the leaves.
- Water needs to be changed regularly, or once you notice the water is becoming a bit murky.
- Top water off when it gets lower.
- Check for roots every week or two.
Step 5: Replant Your Prayer Plant
In two weeks to a month, your plant will grow roots and be ready to plant back in the soil.
Replant the propagated plant back with your original plant to get it to look fuller, or you can plant it on its own in a new little pot. Finally, water the soil and leave it in its preferred spot in indirect sunlight.
Can You Propagate a Prayer Plant from a Leaf?
Well, that’s not a simple question. It largely depends on the leaf in question.
As long as the leaf has a stem and a node, the leaf can grow roots. However, it may be affected by how far along the leaf growth is.
It needs to be a semi-developed leaf so the plant won’t exhaust itself growing the leaf and not growing any roots.
How Do You Propagate Prayer Plants in Soil?
Soil propagation is fairly similar to water propagation. Soil is a bit more demanding, though.
Propagating in soil doesn’t have the same conditions as water propagation. For this reason, a prayer plant needs more care to grow roots in the ground than in water.
Here’s how to propagate it in soil:
- First, cut an inch below the node with clean shears or scissors (The same as in water propagation).
- Submerge the node into the water, then shake off extra moisture and dip in rooting hormone to encourage root growth.
- After that, replant in the same pot or a new smaller one.
- Then water the plant with a generous amount so the roots get all the water they need.
- Put your prayer plant back in its spot of indirect sunlight and cover it with a clear bag to enhance humidity if needed.
How Do You Separate and Repot Prayer Plant?
Propagating prayer plants by division differs only in its first step, but mostly it’s similar to soil propagation.
How to Propagate Prayer Plant by Division?
The sole difference here is that we don’t use a single cutting. Instead, we separate the roots into multiple divisions and repot each in its pot.
However, when using this method, you can also choose some cuttings to propagate separately in water before repotting them in their new homes.
Once they’re each in a new pot, they need to be placed in indirect sunlight and covered with a plastic bag to create a greenhouse effect.
Final Thoughts
There isn’t one answer to how to propagate prayer plants. They can be propagated using three different ways.
The first and most effective way is water propagation. Water propagation is by far the easiest way to grow new roots for your plant. All you have to do is cut a piece of stem just below the nodes and submerge that part in water.
The second way is soil propagation. This method shares the first steps with water propagation but instead of submerging in water, it’s directly planted back in its pot.
Finally, propagating by division is dividing the roots of the plant and repotting each division separately in a new pot.

Growing up with a mom who filled her home (inside and out) with all sorts of plants, Lisa got her start in gardening at a young age. Living now on her own with a home and yard full of plants (including an indoor greenhouse), she shares all the gardening tips she’s gained over the years.